Charlie Ward believes that Stephon Marbury must be going through some deep-rooted turmoil in his life. Otherwise, what else could have sparked Marbury’s profanity-laced rant at the Knick point guard during the final seconds of their last meeting March 9?
“If they got to vent those frustrations that way, they’re frustrated in some other areas,” Ward said after the Knicks practiced at Purchase College yesterday.
Marbury appears to have a long-standing problem with Ward. A few years ago, the Net star asserted that the Knicks would never win a championship with Ward and Chris Childs sharing the point guard duties. The implication being that the Knicks would be better off with Marbury, a Coney Island native.
Perhaps Marbury’s continued digs at Ward are based on jealousy; money aside, he’s stuck playing for the Nets in The Swamp, while Ward is across the river enjoying the Knick limelight.
Marbury gets another chance to demean Ward tonight when the Nets visit the streaking Knicks at the Garden. But Ward, who walked away from Marbury on March 9, said that he would continue to ignore further insults from his opponent.
“The best man always comes out on top and that’s the person that goes about his business quietly and doesn’t taunt other people,” said Ward, a deeply religious man. “I don’t have a problem listening to people like that because I’m a Christian, and in the Bible Jesus got taunted all the time during his death and he didn’t say a word. He went on about his business.
“When people talk trash you may say a few words back, but when it comes to confrontation you just walk away because it’s not going to help the situation.”
Actually, Jeff Van Gundy might disagree. The Knicks’ coach said his players showed a lack of pride when none came to Ward’s defense against Marbury. He also had felt his team backed down five days before when Childs, playing for the Raptors, taunted the Knick bench.
Yesterday, though, said he would not issue a challenge to his players to stand up for each other tonight. Instead, he praised Marbury for his talent.
“I have great respect for Marbury,” Van Gundy said. “I do think he’s the best point guard in basketball.”
For his part, Ward opposed Van Gundy’s view that the Knicks should have shown more pride in the Marbury incident. Ward recalled that his fight with P.J. Brown in the ’97 playoffs led to the Knicks losing the series.
“Pride comes before every fall, and that’s what’s wrong with a lot of men today,” he said. “People always want to fight back. That’s the natural instinct for a male. The one thing about me is when confrontations comes I’m walking away. When it comes to competing I’m going to compete on the court. I’ve learned from my incident [four] years ago.”